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Iraq
Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert. It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, and Iran to the east. It has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. There are two major flowing rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia. alternate history works.]] In ancient times, the empire of Babylonia was based in what is now Iraq, and certain Iraqi groups sometimes identify themselves with the Babylonians. Iraq's modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres. Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932. In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Republic of Iraq was created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party from 1968 until 2003. After an invasion by the United States and its allies, Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011 but the Iraqi insurgency continued. During 2013, Sunni militant groups stepped up attacks targeting the Iraq's Shia population in an attempt to undermine confidence in the Nouri al-Maliki-led government. In 2014, Sunni insurgents belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group seized control of large swaths of land including several major Iraqi cities, like Tikrit, Fallujah and Mosul creating hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons amid reports of atrocities by ISIS fighters. Efforts to retake Mosul began in 2016. Iraq in "Birdwitching" A problem, which it was difficult to shovel out of, was still unresolved in Mesopotamia by the time Lucy Parker competed in the Yule Bird Count in Los Angeles.We Install, p. 133. Iraq in "Interlibrary Loan" A copy of the [http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Necronomicon Necronomicon] in the original Arabic had been found in Iraq during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. This copy was sent to Miskatonic University.Tales from the Miskatonic University Library, loc. 975, ebook. In 2017, Iraqi-born Hafez ibn Abd-al-Rahim, a member of ISIS, secured that copy under false pretenses, thereby sealing his own doom.Ibid., loc. 891-1051. Iraq in ''Joe Steele'' Iraq became a British possession after World War I. Despite a pro-Nazi uprising during World War II, the British were able to maintain a firm hold on Iraq for the duration of the war.''Joe Steele'', pgs. 276-277. In 1943, Basra, Iraq was the site of the first conference attended by the three main leaders of the Allies: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Joe Steele, and Soviet leader Leon Trotsky. While Churchill had met with Steele and Trotsky one-on-one the year before, this was the first time Steele and Trotsky met in person. The two men, who hated each other deeply and had been sniping at each other for years before becoming allies by necessity, remained cordial during the meeting.Ibid., pgs. 277-279. Iraq in Through Darkest Europe Iraq was one of the more advanced and progressive countries in the world. However, it was not immune to being drawn into occasional wars with its neighbor Persia.Through Darkest Europe, pg. 140, HC. Iraq in Worldwar Iraq was a British protectorate in the Middle East before and during World War II. When the Race's Conquest Fleet invaded Tosev 3, it overran and conquered Iraq fairly easily. Iraq's arid desert climate was a good match for the Race's climatic preferences and they settled Iraq heavily.See the Colonization map. However, Iraq was a restive area, with its Islamic majority in perennial rebellion against the Race, and the area required heavy policing by Conquest Fleet veterans. The cities of Baghdad and Basra were particularly restive cities, with the population often staging uprisings and terrorist attacks against Race males. See also *Babylonia, for Iraq in "Occupation Duty." References Category:Countries in Asia Category:Allied Forces Members Category:Axis Members (OTL) Category:Axis Members (Alternate Timeline) Iraq Iraq Iraq Iraq Category:Birdwitching Category:Interlibrary Loan Category:Joe Steele Category:Through Darkest Europe Category:Worldwar Iraq